Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad.
Let’s put some melon in our salad and call it almost summer!
Plus, I’m a sucker for alliteration.
Memorial day weekend is always one of my favorite weekends of the entire year. Besides the fact that it’s a long weekend and the unofficial start of summer, we cap it off by going to a little local parade honoring those who fought for us and it’s such a nice tradition.
I’ve always loved this specific weekend, but a few years ago, Eddie and I had SUCH a wonderful long weekend that I’ve held it to high standards ever since. We didn’t do anything special or out of the ordinary. We did tons of yard work and landscaping, made great dinners, had a few parties to go to, went to get ice cream and finished it off with the parade, but it was just so packed with normal, everyday life, make-it-count activities. We did LIFE.
I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but it was packed with the things we do to live this life that we love.
This past weekend, we spent a ton of time outside planting, doing more yard work, all sorts of things like that. Eddie was getting frustrated and putting multiple chairs together and I was like, THIS IS OUR LIFE! It’s so wonderful and what else would we be doing if we weren’t doing there boring, daily life activities that we get to do? Watching TV or something?
Let’s just say that he didn’t appreciate my annoyingly positive outlook at the moment (says the person who WASN’T assembling furniture… ), but afterwards, he was like, YEAH, this is what we should be doing.
That’s sort of what I love about this upcoming long weekend.
Well, that and… the food. SHOCKING.
At the moment, I’m sliiiiightly grilled out. Ugh, I know. Not words you want to hear at the beginning of the season. But with the kitchen remodel, we grilled so, so, so much. Like constantly! I need to take some extra motivation from Eddie at the moment because he’s been grilling salmon, tuna and all sorts of fish for his lunches – and everything looks SO good.
I don’t even know who he is right now.
In the meantime, I’m going to share a simple but deeeeelicious “salad,” if you will. I mean, it’s a salad full of little balls. Watermelon, cucumber and mozzarella, all in a tangy, herby dressing for the best combo of savory and sweet. YES PLEASE.
I was tempted to throw these ingredients together because I find that the melon salads I end up eating always have too much sweet (like cantaloupe plus honeydew plus watermelon) or a lot of savory (like tons of prosciutto or cured meat). I wanted more of a balance and a heck of a lot of CREAMY in the form of cheese. Balls of cheese. Hello. Please never leave me.
Speaking of, we’ve gone through THREE large balls of burrata this week as I finish up the verrrry last photos for my book. Three! That’s a ton of burrata and I’m not mad about it.
So, I definitely think this big bowl should make an appearance in your weekend, whether it’s for your friends or your family or yourself. It can totally be a one person meal too, in the appropriate proportions.
Which basically means the entire bowl because IT’S SO GOOD.
Take a peek at my video for this marinated mozzarella melon salad!
Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad
Ingredients
- 1 8 ounce container fresh mozzarella balls in water, drained
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1 lime juiced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 cups watermelon balls about 1/2 large watermelon
- 1 1/2 cups cucumber balls about 3 seedless cucumbers
Instructions
- Place the mozzarella ball in a bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon and lime juice, basil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour it over the mozzarella and stick it in the fridge while you use a melon baller to scoop out the watermelon and cucumber.
- Place the watermelon and cucumber in a large bowl. Pour the mozzarella and all the dressing contents in the bowl with the melon and toss well. You can keep this is the fridge for about an hour before serving. Top with extra fresh basil and herbs before serving and toss well!
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I appreciate you so much!
P.S. I totally tricked Eddie because he thought this was honeydew. But it’s cucumber! And he loathes cucumber. This could be the best april fool’s joke.
39 Comments on “Marinated Mozzarella Melon Salad.”
I like that, “we did life”. Very positive.
Ha, ha I did that to my husband too.
I was out of apples( my kids ate all of them) and was in the middle of making an apple crumble cake,
so I put cut up Zucchini chunks instead.
I told him after he sang my praises and how good my Apple cake was, you have to love them!
hahaha tricky tricky!
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This looks so delicious and refreshing for the upcoming summer heat!
http://aneducationindomestication.com
thanks stephanie!
ok so i’ll admit i was skimming & admiring the pretty pictures until i saw your disclaimer about eddie at the end & CUCUMBER BALLS?!?! WHAT? you are a mad genius, i love it…i never would have thought of this. i’m actually kind of stunned right now…this salad just took on a whole new savory vibe & is now the kind of thing i feel like i could pack for lunch because it doesn’t remind me of fruit salad. YES! mind=blown. xx
ha! thanks jess!
Ok between the cucumber (my favorite!) and the mozz balls, I’m SO into this! We aren’t doing a dang thing for the weekend, but I would gladly eat this alllll myself.
thanks abby! i hope you try it!
‘we did life’ is the best ! Not that I’m not a huge fan of the bigger, grander vacations & events, but it’s the daily stuff that can be pretty great and sustains us (friends, family, projects , community). Your weekend sounds perfect
yes yes! i could not agree more phaedra.
i literally can’t think of anything better than fresh watermelon in the summer! i actually thought that was honeydew too, but now that i know it’s cucumber i want to make this even more!! possibly this weekend for a beach picnic… thanks for sharing!! :)
yes, so much more savory. :) thanks jordan!
Put this is the “weird food” category along with cheese boards (containing soft and/or tangy and/or stinky and/or non yellow cheese) which no one in my life will eat. My loved ones are boringly/extremely Midwestern. I mean that endearingly, for real for real. While my memorial weekend will consist of burnt burgers, smoked johnsonvilles, and tuna pasta salad and everything not fun and delicious like this salad, it WILL be lunch next week. Lunch for two. And only two. Because everyone else blows. Also, Summer Life is the best life.
i completely get this! my family is much of the same and if i try to change anything traditional or “regular,” they freak!
This is genius! I love the combination of cucumber and watermelon already, but then we get mozzarella too?!? YES! This is also the cutest salad of the year. Hands down.
thank you ashlyn!
It makes me so ridiculously happy to see everything in the same bite size little pieces!
Paige
http://thehappyflamily.com
thanks paige, ha!
This is so my style of salad, sweet and savory. And let Eddie know those chairs will be worth it when he’s sitting in them sipping summer beers :)
yesss right?! that’s what i’m saying.
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Nice salad, I would’ve been fooled too by a cucumber ball! Don’t think I’ve seen one before, nice touch, also love burrata! Love all of these and yes, perfect summer salad, love the idea of the cucumber prank! Have to do the same
thanks sabrina!
I was totally fooled too thinking it was honeydew instead of cucumber when I saw the pictures! Either way this salad looks DELICIOUS and I cannot wait to try it!
thanks vanessa!
This sounds great, but … why dried oregano instead of fresh? If we’re celebrating the start of summer, fresh herbs say it all! Just call me curious!
hi! i used dried oregano because it is technically a “marinade” for the mozzarella and melon – so a little goes a long way and holds up better in the marinade, doesn’t wilt or get soggy. I do add fresh basil and oregano at the end right before serving – it’s at the end of the recipe!
This looks amazing!! So fresh :D
I haven’t heard about mozarella melon salad before your post, but I couldn’t resist to make it immediately! It was easy and awesome. Thank you Jessica! :)
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Hi Jessica! Will this last in the fridge if made the night before? Or would you suggest keep the marinade and mozza separate and add to the cuc and melon before serving?
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